Five years, five first-team honors, and one last accolade from the NICL West.
East Marshall senior Alyssa Whitmore has been an all-NICL West Division softball player since the day she took to the varsity diamond, rounding out her five summers as a Mustang with selection as the conference's Most Valuable Player.
Whitmore was given the NICL West's top honor as released Wednesday in a vote among league coaches, honoring the five-team first-team selection who has played exclusively shortstop in her days as a Mustang.
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Whitmore was one of seven first-team picks for the Class 3A seventh-ranked Mustangs, who on Monday night will meet No. 5 Estherville-Lincoln Central in the opening round of the state softball tournament in Fort Dodge.
Whitmore's fraternal twin sister, Chelsea, received her third straight all-NICL West first team honor, while senior outfielder Abby Nuese and sophomore pitcher Haley Long both gained their second consecutive first team selection.
Mustang senior second baseman Karly Long, junior catcher Katie Roseland and freshman first baseman Taylor Fricke each received their first such honor.
Alyssa Whitmore, who bats leadoff, paces East Marshall offensively with a .491 batting average, a .564 on-base percentage, 44 runs, 56 hits, 24 doubles, a triple and 17 walks heading into the state tournament. She led the conference in all of those statistics, too, except for triples, and has signed to play at Marshalltown Community College.
BCLUW, which shared the NICL West championship with East Marshall this season, had three first-time, first-team selections in senior first baseman Danielle Montgomery, sophomore pitcher Nicolette Simpson and sophomore outfielder Kendall Scurr.
Simpson was second in the league in earned run average (1.55), strikeouts (132) and wins (17). Montgomery led the Comets with 12 doubles and 28 RBIs, while Scurr was the league's stolen base champion (34-for-36).
Head coaches Jary Hoskey of East Marshall and David Lee of BCLUW shared the league's Coach of the Year honor as well.
Gladbrook-Reinbeck senior Paige Thompson earned her third straight all-NICL West first-team honor after leading the Rebels into a tie for fourth place in the league. AGWSR, which finished third, placed senior outfielder Dani Fisher and freshman pitcher Ashley Sicard on the first team.